CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� President Joe Biden delivered his valedictory address to the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, as his decision to end his reelection bid released newfound energy within his party with Vice President 鈥� elevation to the top of the ticket.
After 52 years rising to the pinnacle of influence within his party, Biden, 81, received a hero鈥檚 welcome for the act of stepping aside for Harris, weeks after many in his party were pressuring him to drop his bid for reelection. One month after an unprecedented , the opening night of the convention in Chicago was designed to give a graceful exit to the incumbent president and slingshot Harris toward a faceoff with Republican Donald Trump, whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by Democrats as an existential threat.
A visibly emotional Biden was greeted by a more than four-minute-long ovation and chants of 鈥淭hank you Joe.鈥�
鈥淎merica, I love you,鈥� he replied.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden appeared to relish the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and go on the attack against Trump. His delivery was more reminiscent of the Biden who won in 2020 than the mumbling and sometimes incoherent one-time candidate whose debate performance against Trump in June sparked the downfall of his reelection campaign.
Biden, in his remarks, repeated his 2020 theme that 鈥渨e鈥檙e in a battle for the very soul of America,鈥� and pressed the case for why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz were best prepared to wage it.
鈥淏ecause of you, we鈥檝e had the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period,鈥� Biden declared. And then he interjected, 鈥淚 say 鈥榳e,鈥� I mean me and Kamala,鈥欌�� sharing the credit for his most popular successes with the vice president to whom he handed over his political operation.
Harris made an unannounced appearance onstage as the convention's prime-time program began Monday evening to thank Biden for his leadership, and watched his remarks from the stands.
鈥淛oe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you鈥檒l continue to do," she said. 鈥淲e are forever grateful to you.鈥�
Biden's speech, billed as the marquee event of the evening, was pushed into late night as the convention program lagged more than an hour behind schedule.
The president recalled the 2017 鈥渦nite the right鈥� rally, when torch-carrying white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, an episode he cites as cementing his decision to run for president in 2020 despite his ongoing grief over the death of his son Beau Biden.
鈥淚 could not stay on the sidelines,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淪o I ran. I had no intention of running again. I鈥檇 just lost part of my soul. But I ran with a deep conviction.鈥�
Biden celebrated the successes from his administration, including a massive boost in infrastructure spending and a cap on the price of insulin. The spending resulted in more money going to Republican-leaning states than Democratic states, he said, because 鈥渢he job of the president is to deliver for all of America.鈥�
During one of the crowd鈥檚 many chants of 鈥渢hank you Joe,鈥� he added, 鈥淭hank you Kamala too.鈥�
Not even a month ago, Democrats were riven over foreign policy, political strategy , who was after a by claiming he had a better chance than any other Democrat 鈥� including Harris 鈥� of beating Trump.
On Monday, Biden insisted he did not harbor any ill will to the many voices in the arena before him who had pushed him to the exits, and called on the party to unite around Harris. Accusing Trump of 鈥渂owing down鈥� to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said, "I never have and I promise you Kamala Harris will never do it.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檒l be a president we can all be proud of,鈥� he said.
First lady Jill Biden alluded to her husband's wrenching decision to leave the race in her remarks minutes before Biden took the stage. She said she fell in love with him all over again "just weeks ago, when I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection and endorse Kamala Harris.鈥�
Still, there was little question that the Democratic Party would almost certainly have been in a far worse state if Biden had continued to cling to his campaign, despite after struggling to complete sentences during his debate against Trump.
Democrats took turns praising Biden's leadership and his choice in Harris to succeed him. 鈥淚鈥檝e never know a more compassionate man than Joe Biden,鈥� said his longtime confidant Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, who led the crowd in a 鈥渨e love Joe鈥� chant.
They tried to connect both Biden and Harris to what the party sees as the governing pair's most popular accomplishments: leading the country out of the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing for massive investments in the country's infrastructure, working to lower healthcare costs and promoting clean energy.
鈥淭hanks to Joe and Kamala, we reduced the price of prescription drugs, repaired roads and bridges and replaced lead pipes," said South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, whose 2020 endorsement was critical to Biden winning that primary. He added that one of Biden's best decisions was "selecting Kamala Harris as his vice president and endorsing her to succeed him.鈥�
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was greeted with prolonged applause, saluted Harris while noting her potential to break the 鈥渉ighest, hardest glass ceiling鈥� to become America鈥檚 first female president. Clinton was the Democratic nominee in 2016, but she lost that election to Trump.
鈥淭ogether, we鈥檝e put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,鈥� Clinton said, invoking a metaphor she referenced in her concession speech eight years ago. 鈥淥n the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States. When a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us.鈥�
Clinton also saluted Biden for stepping aside, saying, 鈥淣ow we are writing a new chapter in America鈥檚 story.鈥�
Highlighting the party鈥檚 generational reach, Clinton, 76, followed New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, who endorsed Harris while delivering the first mention of the war in Gaza from the convention stage, addressing an issue that has split the party鈥檚 base ever since Hamas鈥� Oct. 7 attack and Israel鈥檚 resulting offensive.
Outside the arena, descended on Chicago to decry the Biden-Harris administration鈥檚 support for the Israeli war effort.
Harris "is working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bringing the hostages home,鈥� Ocasio-Cortez said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Biden acknowledged the protests outside the convention and inside the arena as he spoke, saying, 鈥淭hose protestors out in the street have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides." He reiterated his push to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire deal that would also see the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 in the attack that sparked the 10-month war.
Meanwhile, Democrats also looked to keep the focus on Trump, whose criminal convictions they mocked and who they asserted was only fighting for himself, rather than 鈥渇or the people鈥� 鈥� the night's official theme.
Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow hoisted an oversized copy of 鈥淧roject 2025鈥� 鈥� a blueprint for a second Trump term that was put together by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank 鈥� onto the lectern and quoted from portions of it.
鈥淪o we read it,鈥� McMorrow said. 鈥淲hatever you think it might be. It is so much worse.鈥�
Trump, the former president, has publicly disavowed any interests in the policies outlined in Project 2025, but he has close ties to its authors and campaign aides had praised its work in the past.
Democrats kept for voters, betting that the issue will propel them to success as it has in other key races since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Speakers Monday included three women whose healthcare suffered as a result of that decision. And the convention program included a video of Trump praising his own role in getting Roe struck down.
A month after a major union leader spoke at the Republican convention, Democrats on Monday featured several labor leaders to appeal to a core party constituency. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain led the crowd in chanting that 鈥淭rump is a scab鈥� as he credited Biden and Harris with standing by striking autoworkers last year.
The convention program also honored the civil rights movement, with an appearance from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the founder of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, who is ailing with Parkinson鈥檚 disease. There were several references to Fannie Lou Hamer, the late civil rights activist who gave a landmark speech at a Democratic convention in 1964.
Hamer was a former sharecropper and a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a racially integrated group that challenged the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hamer spoke on Aug. 22, 1964 鈥� exactly 60 years before Harris is set to accept the Democratic nomination and become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be the presidential nominee of a major party.
___
Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Josh Boak in Chicago, Ali Swenson and Michelle L. Price in New York and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
Zeke Miller, Jonathan J. Cooper, Aamer Madhani And Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
